Friday, December 18, 2009

Eleventh in a Series: Running Rules to Live By - A PR is a PR Forever, But....

Based loosely on a book by Mark Remy called The Runner's Rule Book as well as a Runner's World article from the January 2010 issue over the next week or so I will be posting a few running rules to live by.

I hope you enjoy the series.

Rule Eleven: A PR is a PR Forever, But....

I confess to be truly guilty of this one. You may advertise a personal record (PR) time, or otherwise claim it as your own with no further explanation for two years after setting it. After two years, however, it becomes uncool to tell people, "My 5K PR is 16:30" without providing a disclaimer - e.g., "My 5K PR is 16:30, but I did that in 1989."

As we become older and the joints and tendons start to snap, crackle, and pop perhaps it is a time to speak of an Age Group personal record (AGPR) when you establish a PR time in your five-year age grouping?

Not that I won't still be setting a Lifetime personal record (LTPR). After all, I did have a 23.8 MPH cycling average in my last triathlon of the 2009 season. Guess I can brag about that until, um, 2011. But by then I will also be in a new age group (50-54) and ready to establish some new AGPR's!

How about you? Any LTPR's that will never, E-V-E-R be threatened again? But you still like to drop into conversation as you slightly puff out the ol' chest?